A Busy Week of Football

We are in the middle of the baseball playoffs, but that has not stopped me from spending a little quality time with football this week. It all started last Saturday when I attended the Duke-NC State game. This game was in Durham at Duke. Their stadium is small, but I really like attending games there. The majority of the seats have actual seats and not metal bleachers. The crowd is also typically calm compared to other college football venues. 

Dare I say far more sober than NC State, or at least the State Fairgrounds during an NC State game. 

This is a look at Wallace Wade Stadium from behind the student section.  

Wallace Wade is the only stadium to host a Rose Bowl game besides the Rose Bowl, which happened during World War II. 

As for the game, my Wolfpack played horrible on offense and lost 24-3 to the Blue Devils.  

I was disappointed for a day, but I actually had a group of NC State Football players show up at my school and read and talk about college life with my students on Monday morning, which more than made up for the loss. The students were excited to meet the players........

We got to spend the day with our friends at Brier Creek Elementary for Sports Day! #1Pack1Goal | #GoPack pic.twitter.com/TLiNJ2wAO0

— NC State Football (@PackFootball) October 17, 2023

While we are here, let's talk about baseball and baseball cards for two seconds. 

I had a pair of concerned well-wishers on social media ask about the Yankees pennant in the video. The players visited three different classrooms. I do not have a Yankees pennant, but my bulletin and board borders are all baseball cards.  I am also into science and math charts and diagrams and they are all over this video.  

Anyway, back to football. This post is not really about baseball cards.  

My week of football was topped off this afternoon by an exciting football card arriving at my house. That's not a typo and it has been several years since I have posted a football card. Got to be something special for me to buy it and post it. 

Front of the card........

This is a 1992 Pro Line Football Brian Jordan autograph. 

Where is the autograph asks the baseball collectors?  

Hold on a minute.  

One of my favorite Brian Jordan card is his 1998 Topps card, which shows him wearing his Cardinals uniform hitting a football. Here is the card:

This Pro Line card proceeds the Topps card by six years and I think it was likely the influence for baseball card with Jordan wearing his Atlanta Falcons uniform holding a baseball bat. I am a little curious about when the photo was taken. Jordan is clearly standing in the left-field corner of Shea Stadium, but during his 3 year NFL career never played a game against the Jets and Giants.  

Jordan only played 55 games for the Cardinals in 1992, but did play 3 in Shea against the Mets. Perhaps the photos were taken during baseball season. Also interesting that Jordan has cards in a 1992 football card product, considering the Cardinals ended up paying Jordan a few million dollars in the middle of the baseball season to give up football. 

Brian Jordan did not play a single down of football for Falcons that year, or ever again. 

Back of the card.  

The Pro Line cards had players sign the back of the cards. I own several Brian Jordan autographs and this is a little scrunched up for space. It's also hard to see on the scan, but there is some yellowing around the autograph, 

No bueno, but I also got this card for less than $10.  

I do really like the embossed Pro Line emblem on the bottom right corner of the card. I guess the basic design of the Pro Line Autographs is the same as the Pro Line base set, minus that embossed stamp. Nice touch in my opinion, especially for the early 1990s. I also really like the write-up with Jordan being mentioned in the same space as Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson.  

That rarely happens, but it should.